$6.7 million to be used to complete work

Published: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at 09:27 PM.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Formerly the Sea Witch Motel and now the Grand Cayman, the 147-room beachfront property at 21905 Front Beach Road soon will be renamed once again.

The antiquated structure, which fell into disrepair following the downfall of the housing market, is in the process of receiving a full face-lift and soon will be rebranded the Beachside Resort.

“The Grand Cayman, because of all the property went through, the reputation now is not that great,” said motel manager John Lee. “Our plan is to rehab that and change that.”

Property owners will use a $6.7 million bridge loan from Boston finance firm UC Funding to complete a project to transform the structure from a dilapidated motel into a class “A” beachfront resort.

Jeremy Ross, senior underwriter with UC Funding, said providing the capital for the improvements made a lot of sense based on the Panama City Beach tourism market, with bed tax collections bouncing back quickly after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Situated on three acres of beachfront property and purchased out of receivership in 2012, the Grand Cayman underwent its first phase of restoration last summer, renovating the room interiors in one of the motel’s two towers.

The second phase of renovation, funded by the bridge loan, will renovate the 90 remaining rooms in the second seven-story tower and also remodel the structure’s entire exterior.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Formerly the Sea Witch Motel and now the Grand Cayman, the 147-room beachfront property at 21905 Front Beach Road soon will be renamed once again.

The antiquated structure, which fell into disrepair following the downfall of the housing market, is in the process of receiving a full face-lift and soon will be rebranded the Beachside Resort.

“The Grand Cayman, because of all the property went through, the reputation now is not that great,” said motel manager John Lee. “Our plan is to rehab that and change that.”

Property owners will use a $6.7 million bridge loan from Boston finance firm UC Funding to complete a project to transform the structure from a dilapidated motel into a class “A” beachfront resort.

Jeremy Ross, senior underwriter with UC Funding, said providing the capital for the improvements made a lot of sense based on the Panama City Beach tourism market, with bed tax collections bouncing back quickly after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Situated on three acres of beachfront property and purchased out of receivership in 2012, the Grand Cayman underwent its first phase of restoration last summer, renovating the room interiors in one of the motel’s two towers.

The second phase of renovation, funded by the bridge loan, will renovate the 90 remaining rooms in the second seven-story tower and also remodel the structure’s entire exterior.

“With the new airport, we’re opened up to a whole different group of guests that we’re trying to accommodate with these upgrades,” said Lee, who also noted the renovation will fill a demand for hotel rooms in the area.

“The TDC has said at their meetings that the beach needs more hotel rooms,” he said. Panama City Beach is “flushed with condos and we need more hotel rooms.”

According to 2012 bed tax information, 63 percent of collections were drawn from condominium and townhome rentals, and 33 percent from hotel and motel rentals. Data also shows collections from condos and townhomes rising steadily over the last three years; those from hotels and motels declined.

Lee said the renovations will add more parking space for guests and a full bar on site that will serve snack-type food. The renovations are scheduled to be complete before the summer tourist season.

“We’re very excited. The rooms that we’ve already finished, the response from guests has been unbelievable,” Lee said. “I think that any kind of building is a good sign, especially with all that the beach went through in the last five or six years.”